


Ink'd

by jokerswild



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: First Tattoo, M/M, Multi, Tattoos, tattooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2014-09-19
Packaged: 2018-02-17 22:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2326040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jokerswild/pseuds/jokerswild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fili gets his very first tattoo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ink'd

**Author's Note:**

> I recently got a new tattoo (not my first) and wanted to write something with my new favorite OT3. So that's how this came to be.
> 
> Also a huge thank you to blogginshield for encouraging me and getting me into these three and just generally being fantastic as always.

Bofur leaned against the wall, thumbs hooked into his belt, as he watched Nori prepare. He laid out a few needles and a bottle of ink on a flat plate on a small side table. The thief said that the ink was special and that he had "acquired" it during his travels out east.

The miner believed him because there wasn't any reason not too, and the bottle was beautifully designed but not in a way that he'd seen before.

"Do you remember your first?" Nori asks as he goes to find a a comfy stool to sit on.

"Aye, ye took yer sweet time with it," he smiles and rolls his eyes. Nori shoots him a look that's both "it was your own fault" and "we've talked about this before" and Bofur just shrugs. The thief is right on both counts of course, his first tattoo had been the first tattoo that Nori had ever done. If he was slow it was because he was unsure while trying to make his first tattoo perfect.

The thick black lines that circled his thigh were not as good as the work Nori did now, though. It still bothered the thief, knowing he should have done better, but Bofur wouldn’t let him fix the tattoo. It was special for a number of reasons and he treasured his first above all the others.

 

"Hopefully he doesn't squirm as much as you did," Nori says, snapping him out of his memories.

"If I squirmed it was yer own fault. There was no reason for yer hand to be on the inside of my thigh," Bofur scoffs.

"I was tattooing it," Nori shoots back.

"Aye but not the one yer other hand was on," Bofur says, crossing his arms over his chest. Heat flickers in Nori's grey eyes before he stands with a chuckle and starts to roll up his sleeves. On one arm is a beautiful collage of lines and colors and styles from all around Middle Earth 

During the times that he left Belegost, Nori would travel and he occasionally got a tattoo from a city he traveled to. Years later those tattoos took up the whole of his right arm, from his wrist up to his shoulder.

And every time he came back, he would make sure to show Bofur the new ink.

"D'ye think you can get it all done today?" He asks absentmindedly while he pulls his pipe out of one pocket and his tobacco pouch out of another.

"Maybe, it's definitely possible," Nori answers with a shrug, "depends on him mostly."

"Hmm, well at least there won't be any distractions since yer workin on his arm," Bofur says as he packs his pipe.

"As I remember it, I at least was willing to wait until we got your leg bandaged," Nori scoffs, raising his braided brows at the other dwarf. Bofur chuckles, remembering that Nori was correct but it was also his fault. After the thief had finished, he had spread an ointment over the ink to help it heal and Bofur couldn't help himself. Nori had just been so gentle, something he didn't know the thief could do up to that point, and Bofur had to have him.

Before he can bring any of that up though, the front door opens and in walks in the heir prince of Erebor. Fili looks tired from a day of work with his Uncle but Bofur thinks he can see the nerves just under the surface. He wouldn't ever say he was nervous but a Bofur knew what it was like just before Nori started his work.

They both remain silent while Fili slips off his coat and kicks his boots off.

"Rough day?" Bofur asks to break the silence when the prince looks up at them. He can see the tension in Fili's shoulders but it was hard to know if that was just from today or the weight of the crown that he'd been carrying since they met.

"Aye, had to deal with nobles all morning," he sighs. Bofur gives him a sympathetic smile and sets down his pipe before going take the prince in his arms and greet him properly with a kiss. Nori gives Fili a peck on the cheek and ushers him out of Bofur's arms and into the arm chair in front of the hearth.

"Ready?" Nori asks, dragging his stool and small the small table closer to where Fili is sitting.

"As I'll ever be," he answers, a little timidly. Bofur can't help but smile at that, and he knows that Nori will bring it up later too, but it's a little cute.

"Tunic off," Nori instructs as he pops open the bottle. Fili starts to undo the laces and catches Bofur eyeing the skin underneath.

"I don't get any help?" Fili says with a wicked grin.

"No," Nori says so quickly that it actually catches both of the other dwarves off guard. Usually the thief was the one to instigate and sort of play, or at least the one highly encouraging it, so it was very unusual to say the least.

"What? We wouldn't want to get distracted," Nori says more to Bofur than to Fili. Bofur just smiles and lights his pipe, taking his eyes off of Fili as he removes his tunic. The three of them have been together for a few years now and it still got his heart beating a little faster to see either Fili or Nori removing clothing.

"Are you going to stay?" Fili asks him as Nori uses a warm wet cloth to clean any dirt from his arm.

"Aye, gonna make sure you and Nori got everything ye need," Bofur replies. Nori had figured that since he had nothing else to do besides wait and watch, he could keep the fire stoked to make sure the room stayed warm. Bofur was also in charge of making sure they both had drinks and to watch Fili for any signs that he might pass out

Not that either of them expected him too, Fili was a strong dwarf, but getting a tattoo could be trying on one's constitution. Besides with Bofur looking out for Fili, Nori could focus on his work.

The prince seems reassured by that at least and Nori picks that moment to start the tattoo.

"Ow!" Fili helps. Nori chuckles and gives Fili a kiss as an apology before he really starts his work. Bofur sinks into another arm chair and smokes his pipe while he waits and it's a long wait. The first few hours drift by steadily with talks about how Bofur and Fili are doing with their work while Nori keeps quiet about his. 

Nori calls for the first break, saying that he needs to take a piss. Bofur takes his stool next to Fili when he gets up, wanting to see how things are coming along.

He had seen the design on paper before Nori agreed to do it but it failed in comparison to how beautiful it looked on his arm. Fili's design not only included his brother's and his own crest's but their mother's as well. There were three distinct rows, on top was Dis' crest, followed by Fili's and then Kili's. They didn't just meet but interwove, making a sort of giant Line of Durin crest.

It was beautiful and besides the typical redness and swelling, the tattoo is actually looking pretty good and he gives it a nod of approval when Fili gives him a questioning look. Before he can race off to take a look in a mirror, Bofur tells him to sit and wait just a moment.

He grabs a bucket of clean water and a cloth to wipe away the excess ink smeared on Fili's skin. He's as gentle as he can be but he knows from experience that all of the tattoo is going to be feeling pretty raw. As gentle as he is Fili flinches away from the cloth before forcing himself still.

Bofur tries to be quick, tossing the newly blackened cloth back into its bucket when he's done. Fili doesn't even wait for the splash of the cloth hitting water before he's rushing past Nori and into their bedroom to get a better look.

"It's not even done yet," Nori gripes to Bofur.

"S'not like its a surprise, Nori. He drew the design himself," he answers. The thief pouts but it's made all better when Fili comes back out beaming brighter than the sun itself.

Bofur decides now is a good time to eat and prepares a quick and simple meal for them, bread and cheese with some ham stew that Bombur made. There's minimal food tossed around and Bofur is the only one allowed to touch the ale which he makes sure to take exaggerated gulps of.

When they resume, he busies himself with smoking his pipe and continuing a small carving of a song bird for Bifur. Occasionally he glances up and watches the other two dwarves, Nori who is hard at work and Fili whose attention is divided between watching him carve and the fire.

It's another hour before Nori shifts Fili so he can continue the tattoo into the inside of his arm and Bofur winces when Fili does. Getting tattoos hurts no matter where they're located but there some places that were especially tender like the inside of an arm or a thigh.

He makes sure to watch Fili a little more closely while Nori works on the inside of his arm, putting his carving away and pulling out his flute. He hopes that it's enough to at least partially distract the blonde from the pain and it actually works pretty well.

Especially when Nori starts singing along.

A few songs in and Fili starts looking a little pale, just as Nori starts on the back of his arm. Bofur is quick to offer them both a drink and the little cakes that Bombur's wife sent up to go with the stew.

Both Fili and Nori look at him like he's been keeping a very big secret from then, and in a way he has. It doesn't matter, however, because it gets both of them up and gives Fili a few minutes to recover.

Not that Bofur, or Nori, is judging him for needing a break. It took him a few days to finish just the one on his thigh but then it was bigger than Fili's, the tattoo and his thigh.

"Just a few more minutes and you'll be done kid," Nori says as he sits and picks up the needle. Well it wasn't really a needle like anyone would sew with since it was hollow but that's what he called and Nori had never corrected him.

"Oh thank Mahal," Fili sighs. They both look more than ready to be done with the tattoo, Fili even more than Nori.

Bofur stands next to the thief, wanting to watch the last few minutes of the process. It was always amazing to watch Nori as he worked on a tattoo, and even better when it was on someone else so it was easier to observe. Nori made it look easy, like anyone could do it without much thought but he knew otherwise.

The thief had an amazing talent.

Well another amazing talent, he could also make anything worth a decent amount of money disappear in seconds.

"What do think, Bo?" He asks, setting down the needle. It's not just a question on the overall look but a need to have someone look it over and make sure there was nothing he needed to go back over.

Bofur took the job very seriously, twisting one side of his mustache as he stared at the tattoo over Nori's shoulder.

"Looks perfect," he praises with a smile. Fili lifts his arm up to look at the inside, also smiling to see the whole band wrapping around his bicep.

"Well go look at it," Nori chuckles as he points back into their bedroom and Fili takes off like a shot. Both of the older dwarves roll their eyes but follow after him, watching from the doorway as the prince contorts his arm this way and that way to try and see the whole thing.

"What's the verdict then?" Bofur asks, unable to help the amused smile on his lips.

"Nori, it's amazing," Fili says with such reverence you'd think he'd seen the face of their Maker in that mirror.

Fili doesn't give Nori a chance to respond before he's  
pressing their lips together, which catches both the thief and Bofur off guard.

"I'm gonna have to learn how to give tattoos if it gets a response like that," Bofur grins, earning him a set of glares.

"Thank you," Fili directs at Nori, choosing to ignore the comment from Bofur.

"Oh well," Nori starts to say like he's actually humbled by Fili's gratitude, " I think you can show your appreciation better than with just a kiss." And like that the illusion is shattered and both Bofur and Fili groan.

"Probably, but I need a bath first," Fili says and starts to pull away.

"You could do both," Bofur offers.

"Both of you?" Nori asks hopefully. Both Bofur and Fili look at him and laugh before Fili is dragging them both off to the bathroom.

**Author's Note:**

> Admittedly I have no idea how long a tattoo like that would take with today's equipment so it's safe to say that I have even less of an idea for how long it would take with a single needle.
> 
> I have a tumblr [here](http://bofurs.co.vu/) if you want to drop by and say hello!


End file.
